International Children's Literature

A Game for Swallows: To Die, to Leave, to Return by Zeina Abirached

Title: "A Game for Swallows: To Die, to Leave, to Return"

Author: Zeina Abirached

Illustrator: Zeina Abirached

Publisher:Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.

Copyright: 2007

Number of Pages:

Genre: International Children's Literature

      Imagine being a young child living in a city torn apart by war. Within the pages of this book, author Zeina Abirached opens a window to see what it was like to live in Beirut in the 1980s. This story takes place on an afternoon when the author's parents went to visit their grandmother.  The distance for the visit was only a few blocks away. However, due to the war in the city, there are snipers located outside their apartment building and sounds of bombs are constantly in the background. Abirached and her brother wait with neighbors in their building for their parents to return safely. Although it is a stressful situation, the two siblings still find a sense of normalcy as they play games during the wait. Read to find out how friends help support each other during a trying time while also carrying on with their day. This book portrays the importance and strength of family and community. 
       Illustrations in this book are simple but compelling.  With a color palette of black and white, the author and illustrator has created a comic book style layout.  

Classroom Connection

Suggested grades: 2nd-6th
     This piece of literature could be used to help students have a different perspective by giving a glimpse of life for youth in other parts of the world.  History and social studies could be discussed while learning about the time period the author wrote about.